Apple’s still unannounced iPhone 7 will reportedly be announced a little earlier than usual this year and hit store shelves on Friday, September 16th. Word of the release date comes via Venture Beat’s Evan Blass, who has a track record for predicting Android smartphone rollouts.
Mr. Blass said on Twitter that the new iPhone will be released the “week of September 12th… To be even more specific, it should happen on Friday, Sept. 16th.”
iPhone 2016 release: week of September 12th.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 23, 2016
Assuming Mr. Blass is right, we’ll likely see invitations go out around mid August for an early September media event.
The iPhone 7 is expected to look similar to the iPhone 6s with repositioned antenna lines. It’s also said to sport a faster processor, improved cameras, a solid state Home button, and a more waterproof body. Reports also say this is the year Apple drops the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of audio over the Lightning port, and is finally ditching the low end 16GB storage configuration in favor of 32GB.
Apple will continue with its 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes, although reports claim we could see a second larger screen model with dual rear-facing cameras.
The iPhone 6s fell in the earlier-than-usual window, too, rolling out on September 9th last year. Assuming Mr. Blass’s sources are right, Apple is on track to match last year’s launch time frame.
We still don’t have any official word from Apple on what’s in store for the next iPhone models, or even when they’ll ship. Considering the number of leaked images we’re seeing, and Apple’s previous launch time frames, it’s looking like the next iPhones will be coming in early September.